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Pratchett would test suicide law Pratchett would test suicide law
(10 minutes later)
Sir Terry Pratchett says he is ready to be a test case for assisted suicide "tribunals" which could give people legal permission to end their lives.Sir Terry Pratchett says he is ready to be a test case for assisted suicide "tribunals" which could give people legal permission to end their lives.
The author, who has Alzheimer's, says he wants a tribunal set up to help those with incurable diseases end their lives with help from doctors.The author, who has Alzheimer's, says he wants a tribunal set up to help those with incurable diseases end their lives with help from doctors.
A poll for BBC One's Panorama suggests most people support assisted suicide for someone who is terminally ill.A poll for BBC One's Panorama suggests most people support assisted suicide for someone who is terminally ill.
Sir Terry is due to set out his ideas in Monday's Richard Dimbleby lecture. Sir Terry is due to set out his ideas in the Richard Dimbleby lecture later.
God's waiting room 'God's waiting room'
In the keynote lecture, Shaking Hands With Death, the best-selling author will say that the "time is really coming" for assisted death to be legalised.In the keynote lecture, Shaking Hands With Death, the best-selling author will say that the "time is really coming" for assisted death to be legalised.
We should look to the medical profession that has helped us to live healthier lives to help us die peacefully among our loved ones Sir Terry Pratchett Should assisted suicide be legal?We should look to the medical profession that has helped us to live healthier lives to help us die peacefully among our loved ones Sir Terry Pratchett Should assisted suicide be legal?
His comments follow the acquittal last week of Kay Gilderdale, of Stonegate, East Sussex, who was cleared of attempted murder after helping her daughter, Lynn, to commit suicide. His comments follow the acquittal last week of Kay Gilderdale, of Stonegate, East Sussex, who was cleared of attempted murder after helping her daughter, Lynn, to kill herself.
Ms Gilderdale admitted aiding and abetting her 31-year-old daughter, who had the chronic fatigue syndrome ME, to take her own life and was given a 12-month conditional discharge. Ms Gilderdale admitted aiding and abetting her 31-year-old daughter, who had been battling chronic fatigue syndrome ME for years, to take her own life and was given a 12-month conditional discharge.
Lynn was found dead at their home on 4 December 2008. Lynn Gilderdale, who had been left paralysed and unable to swallow, was found dead at their home on 4 December 2008.
Ms Gilderdale is to appear in Monday's BBC One Panorama programme.
A survey for the programme found 73% of those asked believed that friends or relatives should be able to assist in the suicide of a loved one who is terminally ill.
Sir Terry says he would like to see measures put in place to ensure that anyone seeking to commit suicide was of sound mind and not being influenced by others.Sir Terry says he would like to see measures put in place to ensure that anyone seeking to commit suicide was of sound mind and not being influenced by others.
A legal expert in family affairs and a doctor familiar with long-term illness would also be part of his proposed tribunals. "At the moment if someone assists someone else to commit suicide in this country or elsewhere they become suspect to murder until the police decide otherwise," he told the BBC.
"It seems sensible to me that we should look to the medical profession that over the centuries has helped us to live longer and healthier lives to help us die peacefully among our loved ones in our own home without a long stay in God's waiting room," he will say. "I think it would be rather better if a person wishes to die, they could go see the tribunal with friends and relatives and present their case - at least if it happens, it happens with, as it were, authority."
A legal expert in family affairs and a doctor familiar with long-term illness would also be part of his proposed "non-aggressive" tribunals.
"It seems sensible to me that we should look to the medical profession, that over the centuries has helped us to live longer and healthier lives, to help us die peacefully among our loved ones in our own home without a long stay in God's waiting room," Sir Terry said.
More than 1,000 people were surveyed for the poll carried out for Panorama.More than 1,000 people were surveyed for the poll carried out for Panorama.
While there was clear support for assisted suicide for someone who is terminally ill, if - as in the case of Ms Gilderdale's daughter - the illness is not terminal, support for assisted suicide falls to 48%. It found that 73% of those asked believed that friends or relatives should be able to assist in the suicide of a loved one who is terminally ill.
While there was clear support for assisted suicide for someone who was terminally ill, if - as in the case of Ms Gilderdale's daughter - the illness was not terminal, support for assisted suicide fell to 48%.
Responding to the Panorama poll, Director of Care Not Killing, Dr Peter Saunders, said: "To argue that if you are terminally ill you deserve less protection from the law than do the rest of us is highly discriminatory as well as dangerous.Responding to the Panorama poll, Director of Care Not Killing, Dr Peter Saunders, said: "To argue that if you are terminally ill you deserve less protection from the law than do the rest of us is highly discriminatory as well as dangerous.
"Many cases of abuse involving elderly, sick and disabled people occur in the context of so-called 'loving families' and the blanket prohibition of intentional killing or assisting suicide is there to ensure that vulnerable people are not put at risk.""Many cases of abuse involving elderly, sick and disabled people occur in the context of so-called 'loving families' and the blanket prohibition of intentional killing or assisting suicide is there to ensure that vulnerable people are not put at risk."
'At peace''At peace'
Lynn was bedridden by the age of 15, and was admitted to hospital more than 50 times with a succession of serious illnesses over the next 16 years. Baroness Finlay, an independent peer who is a professor of palliative medicine, told the BBC's Today programme it was "hardly surprising" the Panorama poll found public support for assisted suicide because "opinion polls reflect the way something is presented in the media".
Ms Gilderdale told the programme: "I know I did the right thing for Lynn. She's free and at peace where she needed to be. Whatever the consequences, I would do it again." She said licensing assisted suicide would be a "very dangerous step" because it would remove protection and "suck all sorts of people in".
"Look at what happened in other countries, for instance in Oregon - the number of assisted suicide has gone up fourfold - if that is translated to Britain, we are not talking about a small number, we are talking about a thousand a year," she said.
She said people had good days and bad days and changed their mind about assisted suicide.
"If you give someone a licence at one point of time, you don't know what will happen after that, there is scope for all kinds of things to happen, like coersion," she said.
Lynn Gilderdale was bed-ridden by the age of 15 and was admitted to hospital more than 50 times with a succession of serious illnesses over the next 16 years.
Her mother told Panorama: "I know I did the right thing for Lynn. She's free and at peace where she needed to be. Whatever the consequences, I would do it again."
The survey was carried out earlier this month and the figures are broadly in line with previous surveys.The survey was carried out earlier this month and the figures are broadly in line with previous surveys.
Last year, the director of public prosecutions issued guidelines on when assisted suicide cases should be taken to court.Last year, the director of public prosecutions issued guidelines on when assisted suicide cases should be taken to court.
But campaigners have said there still needs to be more clarity in the law.But campaigners have said there still needs to be more clarity in the law.
Panorama: I Helped My Daughter to Die is on BBC One on Monday 1 February at 2030 GMT.Panorama: I Helped My Daughter to Die is on BBC One on Monday 1 February at 2030 GMT.